The frequent detection of of the photoinititator isopropylthioxanthone (ITX) in baby milk, milk products and cloudy juices packaged in beverage cartons have pointed to a necessity of further investigations into the presence of photointititatiors in food and food contact materials. This is of particular importance as certain photoinitiators have been shown to be estrogenically active and linked to contact sensitization and cancer. In its new report the Food Packaging Forum covers a new study by Jung and colleagues on the "occurrence of photoinititators and amine synergists in cartonboard packaging on the German market". In their study, the German researchers investigated the presence of 5 photoinitiators and 6 amine synergists in 310 food products and their packaging. Jung and colleagues also carried out testing using the dry food simulant Tenax®. In their analysis, the researchers found the surface-to-mass ratios to exceed the regulatory default value of 6 dm2/kg by a factor of 6. This makes an overall underestimation of exposure in the population likely.
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FPF report “Printing ink exposure from FCM significantly underestimated”
